DOCTOR CONDUCTING STUDY ON PERSISTENT PROPECIA SIDE EFFECTS

[Mew]

Content below copied verbatim from another website. If you are suffering from permanent Finasteride side effects, please participate in this initiative.

----------

March 17, 2010 - posted by:

Michael S. Irwig M.D., F.A.C.E.
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
George Washington University School of Medicine
Division of Endocrinology, Medical Faculty Associates
Director, Center for Andrology

-------

We now have official approval from GW University to begin the study.

Dr. Irwig and colleagues at the George Washington University are conducting a study to describe possible persistent sexual side effects related to the use of finasteride (Propecia).

Interested subjects would email and complete a study consent form and 5 item questionnaire. A telephone interview of less than 30 minutes would be scheduled so that Dr. Irwig can ask basic questions about the subject’s medical, psychiatric and sexual histories.

All information will be kept confidential and each subject will be assigned a unique ID number so that the data is analyzed anonymously. Participation is entirely voluntary.

-------

Eligible subjects are:

1) Men who between the ages of 18 and 40 took finasteride (Propecia or Proscar) for male pattern hair loss treatment or prevention

2) Men who experienced new sexual dysfunction (low libido, erectile dysfunction, decreased orgasm) that has persisted despite stopping finasteride (Propecia)



Subjects are not eligible if they had:

1) Any significant baseline sexual dysfunction before using finasteride.
2) Psychiatric diagnoses including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc.
3) Medication use other than finasteride BEFORE or DURING treatment with finasteride.

--------

We invite you to be a part of this important project so that we can report the persistent sexual side effects of finasteride to both the medical community (doctors who prescribe the medicine) and to the general population.

Interested subjects should send their signed consent forms (scanned to PDF, JPG image) to propeciastudy@gmail.com to participate.

Alternatively, you may also FAX or MAIL your signed consent form:
FAX: 202-741-2490
MAIL: Dr. Irwig
2150 Pennsylvania Ave Norwood # ACC 3-416
Washington DC 20037

 

[KANGA]

Uh oh Merck!


Thanks for the link!

 

[timbo]

Cool!

 

[cuebald]

I take it you are going to take part in this study, Mew ?

 

[Mew]

Of course, as should anyone else suffering from permanent Finasteride side effects.

This is a very important initiative and needs all the support it can get.

 

[Cassin]

People who bought some random crap off the Internet shouldn't be allowed or this study is garbage.

 

[abcdv12]

when i took propecia , i was around 30 , now i am 42, can i participate.

 

[Mew]

when i took propecia , i was around 30 , now i am 42, can i participate.

Contact the study to find out. Since you took it at 30 I think that qualifies, but email them to be sure.

 

[Boondock]

People who bought some random crap off the Internet shouldn't be allowed or this study is garbage.

Agreed. It makes a mockery of the whole thing.

 

[Mew]

People who bought some random crap off the Internet shouldn't be allowed or this study is garbage.

Agreed. It makes a mockery of the whole thing.

How so?

Where you bought the medication has absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH it's mechanisms of action (5AR2 inhibition, DHT inhibition etc).

It doesn't matter WHERE you bought it, only that you ingested it.

 

[Cassin]

Ingested what exactly? Some random junk from Asia?

 

[zeroheat]

lol, jokes.

 

[timbo]

It says that you're not eligible unless you took Propecia or Proscar. That immediately rules out any supplier other than Merck.

 

[Mew]

Update from Dr. Irwig below.

If you are suffering from persistent Finasteride side effects, please download and submit the consent form to participate in this critical study, in order to get the problem reported on and published.

All details/consent form are in the first post of this thread.

----------

"So far I have interviewed around 40 subjects. I need another 10-15 to reach target. Please spread the word and make a final push. The sooner the interviews are completed the sooner the manuscript can be submitted.

Thank you very much to those who have participated thus far!"

Michael S. Irwig MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Director of Andrology,
George Washington University
--------------

 

[Mew]

Update from Dr. Irwig:

-----

"I am happy to report that we have now enrolled a sufficient number of subjects to start the statistical analysis. I will continue to do interviews as the more subjects we have the more robust the data.

Please realize that publishing medical research can take 6-12 months depending on the journal, whether the article needs revisions, etc.

I will definitely share the final product with everyone once it becomes available."


Michael S. Irwig MD Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director of Andrology, George Washington University

 

[Shma]

Good luck Mew!

 

[Mew]

Another doctor who recognizes persistent Finasteride side effects.

Dr. Alan Jacobs, MD & Neuroendocrinologist in New York.
http://www.neuroendocrinology.org/

-----

http://blog.alanjacobsmd.com/alan-jacob ... n-men.html

A Neuroendocrine Approach To Finasteride Side Effects In Men, by Dr. Alan Jacob's (Neuro-endocrinologist)

----

I have recently seen an increasing number of men who have developed significant degrees of clinical hypogonadism - low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, reduced sexual sensations and listlessness, fatigue and/or "brain fog" - while either taking finasteride or after stopping the medication, even long after stopping it.

Finasteride is a medication approved by the FDA to treat benign prostate enlargement and testosterone-related hair loss. It does so by blocking the function of an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. This enzyme normally converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is a more potent hormone that acts at the prostate and the hair follicles. The occurrence of these symptoms in the setting of being on, or even after stopping, the medicine presents a compelling neuroendocrine problem. And it is reasonable to assume that not all men suffer from the exact same cause.

The investigation of this problem begins with measuring blood levels of the testicular hormone testosterone, DHT and luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which are the pituitary gland's hormones that stimulate the testicles to make testosterone, and also estradiol, a "female" hormone that is present in men, but in much smaller amounts than in women. Small elevations in estradiol in men can have noticeable anti-testosterone effects.

If testosterone is low and LH and FSH are high, then the problem is testicular. If testosterone is low and LH and FSH are low or even normal, then the problem is "upstairs" either in the pituitary gland or in higher brain centers that control hormones. Depending on the outcome of this evaluation, treatment first and foremost involves giving enough testosterone to bring high normal levels (by gels or intramuscular shots), while blocking the conversion of some of the testosterone to estrogen, which happens naturally in fat tissue. There is a pill for this.

If high normal levels of testosterone, combined with low estrogen levels, does not relieve the hypogonadal symptoms, then the possibility that the man has some resistance to testosterone must be considered. This would be akin to the insulin resistance seen in diabetes and would be treated in a different manner. An MRI of the pituitary gland would be indicated if LH and FSH are low or normal, at the same time that testosterone is low, to exclude the possibility of a benign tumor impairing the pituitary's ability to respond to the low testosterone.

Finally, other brain hormones can be effected by finasteride. These are called neurosteroids and their decline can bring anxiety and depression. These neurosteroids cannot yet be measured commercially with blood tests, but the "brain fog" some men experience on finasteride may result from disturbances in attention caused by anxiety or mood changes.

Finasteride certainly helps men fight hair loss and prostate enlargement. However, a considerable number of men have intolerable and sometimes persistent side effects from the medicine. A systematic neuroendocrine approach to this problem should shed light on the cause in a majority of cases and bring relief.